Author
Dr Aswathy Madhukumar
Organisation/Institution
CHRIST(deemed to be) University
Country
INDIA
Panel
Legal Education
Title
LEGAL EDUCATION IN INDIA: PLUNGE FROM PURSUIT FOR KOWLEDGE TO MARKET COMPETITION
Abstract
The proposed paper examines the institutional framework of contemporary legal education in India, deconstructing and addressing the challenges it faces. It starts with the earliest observer of modern legal education in India – Mr. Getman, a researcher from the US who visited Indian law colleges in the 1960s – who critiqued that classes in law schools are almost entirely by lecture, stressing memorization and the ability to manipulate words. It then correlates the development of Indian legal education to its current state, with an onslaught of technology, AI, and a plethora of regulatory boxes to check. In this backdrop, the paper looks at the focus of legal education, and the position of educators in the contemporary framework. It interrogates the outcome we seek to achieve, and argues that despite good intentions, the ultimate outcome relinquishes legal education to the checking off of a few pre-set boxes. Once again, the paper argues, legal education continues to focus on attaining certain technical pre-requisites, and in the process loses the soul of law as a socially relevant discipline. The paper refers to Upendra Baxi, the renowned Indian legal scholar who emphasised on ensuring that law stays socially relevant, and examines how far legal education imparts the same to its students. It looks at the underbelly of Indian academia (including but not limited to legal education), that encourages educators to teach and publish in a competitive ‘market’, rather than as a pursuit of knowledge. The paper calls for a revamping of legal education in India to contextualize it in the social, cultural, and political backdrop of the Country, encouraging political thought and meaningful dissent. Legal education institutions will need to rid themselves from the insidious grasp of checking-boxes mode of functioning, and stop being reduced into degree-and-publication-vending machines that has transformed education into a market. Such a meaningful legal education could impart knowledge that promotes sustainability, justice and regional integration.
Biography
Aswathy Madhukumar is an Assistant Professor of Law with expertise in international humanitarian law, criminal law, and gender and law. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Christ University, Bangalore. She has also worked as an Assistant Professor of Law at the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER), Goa, and SRM University. She also held legal internships with the National Human Rights Commission of India, the Indian Society of International Law, and the Kerala State Human Rights Commission. Dr. Madhukumar earned her Ph.D. in International Humanitarian Law from the Indian Law Institute (ILI), New Delhi, in May 2023. Her thesis was titled "Civilian Security in Armed Conflicts: Exploring the Scope of International Humanitarian Law in Indian Context". She also holds an LL.M. in Criminal Law from ILI and a BBA, LLB (Honours). Her research focuses on legal and policy frameworks in international law, particularly concerning India. Her published works and papers cover topics such as application of international humanitarian law in the Indian context, implementing post-pandemic economic parity and the concept of distributive justice, etc.
